


To be Reforged Once More

by Sir_Epic_3000



Category: Xenoblade Chronicles
Genre: After Story, Gen, I wonder how many more ways I can say the same thing, Post-Canon, also Juju needs more love so I thought I'd give him that, post-epilogue, though there's no denying he's incredibly stupid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-21
Updated: 2020-08-21
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:07:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26024695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sir_Epic_3000/pseuds/Sir_Epic_3000
Summary: "Can you please fix this for me?"As he prepared himself for his final slumber, the voice made itself known to him once more. He had no clue why his system held onto this specific fragment of his former life, but the mysterious warmth and comfort that it invoked ensured his tolerance for it. He might as well be accompanied by a pleasant feeling as he allowed himself to expire.If only those damned people would stop hunting him down.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 19





	To be Reforged Once More

**Author's Note:**

> My first foray into AO3 content creation. It's not the first story I've written by any means, though I'll mention that it's been quite some time since I've pushed my creative muscles this hard. I'm not saying this so that you'll go easy on my work; I just wanted to share.

_“Can you please fix this for me?”_

A butterfly flew across his vision, fighting against the breeze that whisked away the petals of flowers in the small field before him. They were all a brilliant shade of yellow, meshing beautifully with the blue sky that hung over the grove of trees that surrounded him.

Beyond said grove, he could hear the calls of Armus as they plodded about the plain they grazed on. And if he really pushed his hearing, he would also hear the skittering of Caterpiles huddled underneath the grove’s canopy.

All in all, it was a beautiful sight. So long as he ignored how the cliff-face he laid against dug sharply against his back. Alas, no one has ever spoke of a truly peaceful way of letting yourself die.

_“Can you please fix this for me?”_

Again with that voice. Not even the caterpile that managed to scale his leg was as bothersome as it. In fact, nothing he experienced over the past few months came close to being as irritating as the voice – especially when it said the same line over and over. If he wanted to listen to something for hours on end, it would be the death cries of the numerous blue monstrosities that he had smashed to a pulp.

_“Can you please fix this for me?”_

And yet, he could not find it in himself to completely despise it. It was a remnant of the past, that was for sure. Long before he had been repurposed into what he was now. Before he had come to serve the mechanical deity who wished to exact justice for those that had been lost to the depravity of its organic rival. It was not relevant to his mission, and thus it was nothing but a hindrance… a liability that had to be put aside as he worked towards fulfilling his objective.

_“Can you please fix this for me?”_

It was the voice of a woman… a voice that, despite his best efforts to resist, brought warmth and content whenever he heard it. Hearing it constantly throughout his tenure as the mechanical god’s servant was the closest thing he had gotten to feeling happiness up until this point.

But now, in a world that no longer had his master around, and consequently his mission, it was but a bitter reminder that he had also lost everything that his present life had to offer. And while the voice provided him the only pleasant sensation he could have nowadays, it was not a duty or job that he was assigned to endure. Ultimately it was an obscure relic of the mysterious being that he was before all of this came to be, and salt to the wound of him still having nothing after everything that came to pass.

He took a brief glimpse of his body. There were more Caterpiles on him now, munching on the moss that had come to cover his exterior. He resumed his gaze on the heavenly ocean just beyond the tree-line of the grove, and admired how the puffy wisps that swam on it ever-so-slowly escaped his vision. His body heaved slightly – its best approximation of a sigh. Despite the natural discomfort of the surface he was leaning on, he did his best to settle in his place as comfily as possible. He ignored the scraping of his back against stone in favor of the soft dirt that sifted underneath him.

He shut off his optical sensors, bringing himself to a world of pitch-black void. As he powered down function after function in his system, he decided to gratify himself with one last recall of the voice that had accompanied him this entire journey.

_“Can you please fix this-“_

_VROOOOOOOOM!!!_

The trees shuddered as birds shot out of them, bolting for the sky. As his system undid all his previous commands, his body roared to life and nearly leapt after the flock. _No… please no!_

Ever since he escaped that blasted mine, he had seen what the people of this world have became capable of doing to those like him. His master had warned him that one of their enemy’s greatest strengths was their adaptability, but he didn’t expect these beings to be able to develop effective countermeasures against his kind in such a short span of time. Who knows how far their weaponry has grown since the last time he encountered them?

His exoskeleton rumbled as his engines pumped ether throughout his body as fast as possible. His hands grabbed onto fistfuls of earth, and with a mighty groan he pushed himself to his feet. The Caterpiles that were clinging to him immediately fell, rolling away in the cover of dust clouds borne from his explosive action.

As the roaring of the beings’ machines increased in volume, he thought of the circumstances that landed him in this situation. He was not blind to the fact that he had much to pay for in regards to what he had done to these people. He possessed top-of-the-line gear amongst his kind, and he will never forget how his audio sensors lapped up the screams of those he had ordered his lesser kin to devour. Truth be told, if someone asked him if he deserved to be punished by these beings, he’d say that it simply wouldn’t be enough for them to just destroy him.

And yet, as he checked his jet engine to see if it had enough fuel, he staunchly rejected the notion of him dying on _their_ terms. While most would probably think him preposterous for going to such lengths to find oblivion while there are those who are readily willing to hand it to him, he’d argue that it is _exactly_ why he wished to end it all by himself. If his fate were to die either way, why not do it peacefully instead of being torn apart with extreme prejudice?

His HUD flashed red, warning him that he did not have enough ether to make a reliable escape via flight. He let out a shuddering breath - for the first time in this life, he began to feel the true weight of his armor, and how oppressively it chained him to the ground. Wasting not a second, he ordered what was left of his energy to collect in his lower body.

The Armus from the plain beyond cried out in alarm, their fading hoof-steps signaling their retreat. That’s when the engines of the beings’ machines came to a screeching halt… just outside the grove. He was about to make a run for it when a man’s voice reached his audio sensors, powered by some form of microphone.

“I am Colonel Vangarre of the Colony 9 Defense Force. We know you’re in there. Surrender peacefully and we will take you in without any complications.”

There was a spark in his mind when the man’s name was mentioned. But as he was too busy calculating the best way to escape while he was practically surrounded, he couldn’t determine whatever significance the person held to him. Could they be another echo from the life of the him before?

“Oi, I know you can hear me!” the voice continued. “My offer still stands… so long as you get out of there _right now!_ ”

Either way, he did not like the man’s tone one bit. In his opinion, sending someone like that to “peacefully” capture him was indicative of their plan not having much in the way of peace.

“I hope you’re not getting any _funny_ ideas in there!” Vangarre barked. “I really don’t want to have to do this, but if you try anything- “

_CRACKLE-SNAP!_

Entire trees were reduced to splinters under the weight of his shoulder. Uncaring for the cyclone of leaves billowing around him, he trundled forward into the vast plain beyond the grove. One foot banged against something metallic, and men screamed as they and their vehicle were knocked aside. More of the beings started shouting, their voices less panicky and more commanding. He paid no heed to their words and forged onward, his mind focused on one thing only – escape.

_There!_ While he had called the area a plain, it wasn’t really all that vast like the one in Bionis Leg. His optics locked onto a path that lead into a more heavily wooded area than the grove he was in before, some two dozen strides ahead.

He was already gunning for it when the colonel from earlier bellowed, “AFTER HIM!” While his model wasn’t built to traverse the land on foot, his sheer size meant that he was still capable of covering a great deal of distance in a matter of seconds. This was how he managed to enter the forest in just a few beats once he started running. But the people after him were not to be underestimated, either; already he could hear the loudening thrum of their vehicles giving chase.

Even running low on ether as he is, his body was very much a tidal wave of power. Boulders and trees unfortunate enough to be on his path were smashed into smithereens. Animals of the land, both big and small, knew to leap out of the way of his destructive gait. Yet his unstoppable mass was a double-edged sword: the people after him could safely follow in his wake, any obstacle that could’ve hindered them having already been destroyed by him. And that’s exactly what they did, judging by how his audio sensors picked up their engines maintaining a steady volume.

The total futility of his resistance was staring to dawn on him, made more prominent by his HUD’s warning of his rapidly dwindling ether supply. His processors computed that he wouldn’t have any fuel left within five minutes if he kept this pace. Desperation gripped at his core, its touch colder than any of the metal plates that encased him. When a log nearly tripped him, he knew he had to come up with a new course of action.

Just as his pursuers began to catch up in their vehicles, something came into view. A large pool expanding from a waterfall, which his optics calculated to be wider than his frame. Against his nature as a computer-powered lifeform, he headed to the waterfall with a hunch that he desperately hoped was correct.

He practically hopped onto into the pool, the force of his entry creating waves that hurled some of the Sardi out of the body of water. While the water’s surface only reached up to his knees, it impeded his speed by a considerable amount – a fact he was painstakingly reminded of when the volume of their vehicles’ approach reached an all-time high.

By the time he got to the cliff-face that the waterfall was pouring from, the vehicles had ground to a halt once more. The shouts of men assailed his hearing as he reached for the liquid curtain, his hand trembling at what he might find.

“STOP RIGHT THERE!” Ignoring the colonel like before, he watched as the falls swallowed his hand, then his elbow, then the rest of his arm. Waving his limb around, he deduced that there was a large cavity within the cliff – a realization that had him promptly diving into the waterfall. Alarms went off in his system as his HUD warned that his dilapidated armor would render him vulnerable to water damage, which he completely ignored. He fought against the battering of heavy downpour, and in two strides he made it past the falls and into the cliff cavity. His optics were no longer blinded by a frothing blue, but instead a pitch-black darkness.

It was not as pitch-black when he turned around to behold the waterfall, this time from the inside of the cliff. The morning sun’s rays pierced through the foams of rushing water, creating a mesmerizing sight in the dark. It was promptly ruined by the voice of Vangarre, who was once again using some sort of microphone to project his voice over the crashing torrents of the waterfall.

“Would you actually listen to me for five seconds, you rust for brains!?” went the colonel. “I swear to whatever god above that we are not here to harm you… unless of course you retalia- HEY!”

More shouting from several people. There appeared to be a commotion going about them. He wondered if he could use the opportunity to make a run for it again. As the people from the other side of the waterfall argued amongst themselves, he had his processors calculate what he would be capable of with his current ether reserves.

“Greetings,” hold on, this wasn’t Vangarre. “Please excuse my friend for his rather passionate statements. He means well, really. I am Dunban, also a member of Colony 9’s Defense Force. When the colonel said that we are willing to take you in peacefully, he meant no deception. All you have to do is walk out of the waterfall, and you’ll be in our care.”

More bullshit. He did have to commend them for realizing that the other man was not all that good at persuasion, and thusly replaced him with this… Dunban. Another name that sparked vague recognition from him. Whoever this person was in his previous life, he must’ve been much more pleasant than that Vangarre… just like in this current situation.

_“Can you please fix this for me?”_

… This wasn’t right. While the voice was all too willing to bother him in moments where he was just on standby, it never came to him in the middle of intense situations – case in point, his current predicament.

Speaking of predicament… a freezing cold came over his internal parts as his HUD relayed the details of his ether levels. Should he continue to exert his body via running, he wouldn’t even make it out of the lake. By all accounts, there was no feasible way to escape the scenario he was in.

_“Can you please fix this for me?”_

Before he could snap at the voice, Dunban continued. “I assure you that we have nothing but your best interests in mind. It is your desire to know who you were before you were put in that machine, correct?”

He stilled at that statement. This Dunban couldn’t possibly understand the implication of his words. Ever since he came to this world as he is now, the person that he was before was completely shrouded in fog. Bits and pieces came to him from time to time, only to scuttle away before he could behold them with greater clarity. Among the vestiges of his past lay only one constant…

_“Can you please fix this for me?”_

“We have the means to offer that to you. Return that which has been taken from you. We will spare no method or technique under the sun to give you back what you deserve. All I ask is that you come with us peacefully.” At no point did Dunban’s voice waver as he said all this. Every word that he spoke came across as just another fact that he was reciting, as if it was from his will that time itself moves ever onward.

He twitched. The _audacity._

A growl came from within him, but he did not know which of his components made the sound. He surged forward, and in a flash he had crossed the waterfall and returned to the outside world. His system once again warned him of potential water damage, but once the thick foam slid past his optics, his attention was solely on those who had him surrounded.

A dozen jeeps fanned out in a semi-circle. Each and every one of them carried soldiers armed with rifles. Directly ahead of him stood two men. One of them was dressed in armor like the rest of the soldiers and had a wide and pointy moustache. Vangarre, most likely, judging from the aggression that was clearly twisting his facial features. The other man clothed himself differently from the rest of the group, his outfit giving off an aura of sophistication. Long, dark hair framed a face that, while stoic, gazed at him with serenity.

He took note of the long blade strapped to his side, but more importantly the megaphone that he had on hand. So this was Dunban. The one who dared to taunt him with _hope._

_“Can you please fix this for me?”_

For a while now, he had craved the end. The end of all his frustrations: the mystery of who he was before, the failure of his mission, and the reason why that goddamned _voice_ followed him everywhere. He had picked out the perfect place to put his body to eternal rest, and was in fact in the process of carrying out said task when these _cretin_ did their best to convince him that they weren’t at all just going to scrap him… even going as far as to tease him with _hope._ Hope that he had long since buried. Hope that he had embraced its improbability of. Hope that he had never grown to have.

_“Can you please fix this for me?”_

Casting aside his blaring HUD – critical ether levels be _damned_ – he took one step forward.

Just as all of the soldiers raised their guns, a boyish voice cried out, “WAIT!”

A small figure leapt out of one of the jeeps and rushed towards him. Dunban and Vangarre jumped at the apparent interjection, turning towards the source with alarm. He, on the other, jolted to a stop. _No…. could it be?_

It was the boy from all those months ago. The child that he had chosen to use as a hostage against those three Homs. The child that he had threatened to consume. The child that he had saved from those alien monsters. The child that he had looked in the eye, revealing a fear of him unparalleled by any other Homs he’d looked at. The child that made him decide to seek his own eternal resting place for the sake of all those he had wronged.

_“Can you please fix this for me?”_

“Xord!” The boy tried to reach out to him, but only made it as far as Dunban’s outstretched arm. “Please, don’t hurt him! Just give me a chance to talk to him.”

“What the hell are you doing outside of the vehicle, boy?” growled Vangarre. “You had orders! GET BACK TO THE- “

Dunban raised his other arm, silencing the colonel with a closed fist. The boy took this as a queue to resume. 

“Xord…” the boy seemed to hesitate, but eventually put aside whatever was holding him back. “My sister told me everything about people like you. I… I know now that you weren’t yourself back then – when you did all the things you did back at Colony 6. I’m still terrified of you, b-but I understand that you weren’t in control back then. I can’t put all the blame on you!”

_“Can you please fix this for me?”_

Some soldiers began to mutter amongst themselves, leveling stares at the boy with varying degrees of emotion. It was all halted with a sharp look from Dunban.

“I know that there’s g-good in you, Xord,” the boy was starting to tremble. “Remember the Telethia invasion? At the rebuilt Colony 6? You were the one who protected me from that Telethia, weren’t you?”

He remembered it clearly. How he felt when he saw the village of innocent people suddenly get besieged by those ethereal monstrosities, how one of those creatures turned to paste under his fist, how _terrified_ the boy was when they locked gazes…

“W-well, I couldn’t let you do something for me without returning the favor, ‘c-cause that’s not fair,” the boy took a deep breath to steady himself. “So I thought that I’d ask around for you, see if anyone knew a Xord…”

_“Can you please fix this for me?”_

He stilled. But it was not his exoskeleton, not his armor, that did so. It was the actual _him_ , the him lying underneath all the metal plating. The him that was flesh and blood, the one physical proof he has of the life he lived before.

“I think I figured it out…” the boy’s voice unexpectedly hardened, his expression turning to steel. “You’re Xord of Colony 9. You were a blacksmith for most of your life, but the Defense Force recruited you around a year ago. You fought as a foot-soldier during the Battle of Sword Valley, so that you’d protect what was dear to you…”

His body – his _actual_ body – started shuddering. The scattered visions that he once assumed to be irrecoverable were starting to come back to him. Each recollection hit him harder and harder, so much so that the Monado might as well have been a rubber sword against his hide.

“You have a daughter, Xord!” the boy practically screamed. “Her name is Desiree, and she’s been waiting for you all this time! Waiting for you to return to her!”

_“Can you please fix this for me?”_

_“Can you please fix this for me…?”_

_“Can you please fix this for me, father?”_

_“Why do you have to go?”_

_“Why can’t you just help our soldiers from home, father?”_

_“Why can’t you stay here with us?”_

_“Please take care of yourself. I’ll be here when you come back…”_

_“I love you, father. Goodbye.”_

Xord fell to his knees, launching both water and Sardi into the air. The soldiers jumped at the sudden action, but the colonel gestured at them to lower their weapons.

Dunban looked him over with a neutral expression, and slowly lowered the arm holding back the boy. Said boy crept forward, stopping only when the pool’s edge met his shoes. “Please, Xord. Come back with us. Back to Colony 9. Back to your family. I swear that we’ll help you with everything we have.”

After passing the megaphone to Vangarre, Dunban joined the boy at his side. He gave a firm nod. “Indeed. In fact, we have already restored someone of your circumstance to the body they had before. She’s actually been tasked with helping people like you recover from what you went through, as she knows exactly what it’s like to be in this situation.”

“She’s ready to have you as soon as you’re available, actually,” Vangarre grunted. “You just need to _actually_ be on board with our offer.”

Dunban shot the colonel a look before returning his attention to Xord. “Either way, I feel as if I don’t really need to ask you this. You’ve got people waiting for you at home – what do you say we quash their worries as soon as possible, eh?”

Xord took one last look at his diagnostics. His energy levels were just about ready to hit zero, so he had no idea how they’d get him back to his family.

His family… his daughter; Desiree. Somehow the thought of her made him actually want the exoskeleton he was in to run out of juice, if it meant he’d get to hold her with his real arms.

As his HUD notified him that his body was now entering a forced shut down, he pondered of all the possibilities he might encounter - both the good and the bad - once they got him out of his machine body. He decided that facing it all would be worth it, so long as he could see his daughter once again.

With the last of his body’s ether, he willed himself to nod at Dunban. Immediately he found himself underneath the weight of exhaustion, and his world began to darken.

_“Can you please fix this for me, father?”_

_Of course, my dear. Just give me a moment._

**Author's Note:**

> So I heard from my sister that an excerpt from the Monado Archives basically confirms that the Face that rescues Juju from a Telethia near the end of the game is actually Xord. Knowing how he went out early on in the story makes it hard for me to believe her. I decided to roll with the idea anyway and make something out of it. I hope everyone who has made it this far enjoyed the piece.


End file.
